(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for providing to an individual certain information which is relevant to that individual's health status. More specifically, the invention relates to a system and method for providing information relevant to an individual's health status and wherein the information provided is chosen on the basis of not only the individual's health status but also complex psychosocial behavioral factors related to that individual's motivational structure and likely impact.
It has long been a goal of healthcare providers and health services researchers to provide information to an individual that does not merely confer a momentary cognitive benefit to the individual but also motivates that individual to act to improve his or her health. This goal has proven difficult to attain, especially when it is proposed to provide such information to a large population of individuals, each of whom is in need of healthcare information that is tailored to address his or her health status in the context of the real-life psychosocial situation in which the individual is found. The present invention accomplishes that goal, through providing a method and a system for providing individually tailored health-related information to an individual in a way that facilitates that individual's acting on the basis of that information to improve his or her health.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Studies summarized and analyzed by Victor J. Strecher and Matthew W. Kreuter have shown that motivational factors are not taken adequately into account when individuals are confronted en masse with health assessments and attendant recommendations, when those recommendations are generic rather than individually tailored. The individuals typically gain some potentially useful information from such assessments and recommendations, but many individuals in greatest need of lifestyle change or facilitation of healthier choice-making are those who respond most ineffectively, or not at all, to the provision of such information. Strecher and Kreuter recommended that feedback be provided having the following characteristics: “allows the user to understand his or her risk status relative to others in the population . . . allows the user to better understand the relative risks of diseases he or she is at risk of suffering . . . allows the user to better understand the relative impact of various risk factors . . . allows the user to understand the health benefits of specific behavioral changes . . . enhances the user's ability to make recommended health behavior changes.”